


A Square of planed wood

by purglepurglepurgle



Category: Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997)
Genre: Bugenhagen has glimpsed the abyss, Cosmo Canyon, Gen, Recursion, red-baked rock, strata
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-24
Updated: 2019-08-24
Packaged: 2020-09-25 19:55:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20377219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purglepurglepurgle/pseuds/purglepurglepurgle
Summary: Narrating the reunion of Nanaki and his grandfather, an offscreen moment when the party reaches Cosmo Canyon for the first time.





	A Square of planed wood

"Nanaki!" Bugenhagen held out his arms. "What a wonderful surprise, ho ho hooo!"

Nanaki bounded up, and they embraced.

"Grandpa, I've missed you so much..." Nanaki squeezed his eyes shut, tears leaking. Bugenhagen smelled of barley tea and woodsmoke, old smells, smells Nanaki had almost forgotten. The kitchen-- their kitchen-- glowed with the same old flickering candlelight, orange-warm. Nanaki _had _forgotten that light could be soft. On every surface, Bugenhagen's books towered: tree trunks, rearranged. Tomes of all sizes jostled for attention: astronomy, biology, economy, philosophy, linguistics, vampire romance (_"Grandfather?"_), horticulture-- just being near them made Nanaki's mind spark with associations and questions, faint stirrings of ideas. The radio crackled in the background. The fridge hummed. He remembered being very young, and thinking that Bugenhagen's kitchen appliances were conversing in a language he couldn't understand.

_Perhaps they are; how would I know?_

"Really?" Bugenhagen's voice brought him back to the present. "You missed a boring old man like me? Ho ho hooo!" Bugenhagen hesitated before patting Nanaki's head; Nanaki belatedly realised his grandfather was taking in the matted fur, and the ribs that poked through. But of course, Bugenhagen said nothing. This wasn't the moment.

Bugenhagen caught sight of something on Nanaki's side. "You've got a tattoo!"

Nanaki swallowed, forcing a smile. "Not out of choice."

He recounted his journey. Bugenhagen shook his head.

"That man... I hoped time would change him. But it appears to have only entrenched what was already there."

"Well, I'm here now," said Nanaki. He made his tone bright. He doubted he could stop his grandfather from ruminating, but he'd do his best.

Bugenhagen patted his head again. "You _are_! Did you enjoy your travels, apart from that unexpected sojourn?"

Nanaki paused. He looked at the wooden walls, that had seemed so dull and smug, before he'd left. Uniformly rough-sawn. "I saw a lot."

"I imagine you did." Bugenhagen's voice was gentle. They were both remembering the argument that had sent Nanaki bounding away.

_ "This place is fake! Spirit energy, spirit energy, spirit energy-- it's nothing to do with the planet, and you know it. You all got bored of your office jobs, so you made your pretend little village together, and now you call yourselves scholars of spirit energy-- what does that even mean? You just want to keep up the fiction, because otherwise, what have you got left? A hobby project, that's what! And I'm sick of it! I'm not a project! I want to meet some real people!"_

"It is good for you," said Bugenhagen, now, "to see the world. The more you see, the more you see."

Nanaki nodded. The coaster on the nearby teatable was hand-beaded-- Elder Hargo's work. It would have taken hours. Made with full attention, with care-- and without duress. "I think I get it, now."

Bugenhagen laughed. "I hope not!" He glided over to the kettle. "No, I think you have a good many years yet, to explore and experiment." He filled the kettle with water, and set it down on the hob. "But! There's no reason why you can't stop to rest, in our little collective fiction, whenever you choose."

Flames warmed the kettle. Nanaki thought about the liquid inside, transforming to gas, expanding and drifting out of the room. The same atoms, mingling with others, forming new molecules, combining and recombining, assembling into plants, animals. Trees growing, dying, burning as fuel. Fawns eating the fruit.

_Home._


End file.
